Annie Kapur
Bio
I am:
đđ˝ââď¸ Annie
đ Avid Reader
đ Reviewer and Commentator
đ Post-Grad Millennial (M.A)
***
I have:
đ 280K+ reads on Vocal
đŤśđź Love for reading & research
đŚ/X @AnnieWithBooks
***
đĄ UK
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A Filmmaker's Guide to: 20 Films of 1920s
The Jazz Age - as it is dubbed - was a decade of change in history. From the reparations in Europe for the end of the First World War to the decline and fall of the stock market in 1929 with the Wall Street Market Crash. Throughout the decade, we had entertainers such as Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, the orchestras of Artie Shaw and films of the strange and wild that were brewing in a new expressionist movement in Germany as a reaction towards the aching political regime in their country. Things were making it big. Cinema gained sound, the talkies were born and with one film - the whole scene would change forever.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
"The Complete Stories" by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was an author that, when I was growing up, I wasnât overly interested in. By the time I had first read his short stories, I had already read the books âFor Whom the Bell Tollsâ and âA Farewell to Armsâ and I didnât particular enjoy either of them. At the age of about thirteen, Hemingwayâs writing can seem bland, dry and almost dull but, as I grew up and re-read the short stories, I noticed that I was very wrong indeed. In fact, it is the dry nature of the stories that make them so interesting and fulfilling to read. I first read the short stories at the age of thirteen and yet, I couldnât make head or tail of them.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmakerâs Review: âUnabomber: In His Own Wordsâ (Netflix, 2020)
I am pretty sure that anyone who hears the term âUnabomberâ has this weird chill that goes down them. You donât really know why you have a certain chill but itâs there. Itâs not really because of the man himself but more about the strangeness surrounding his situation - especially the odd three years he spent under the influence of a psychologist at Harvard University, apparently subjected to CIA style mind-altering torture techniques. Though the man himself maintains it did not change him, is it really that or is that just what he believes? This documentary investigates the years between 1978 and 1995 in which a Mathematics PhD killed three people and injured more than twenty by sending homemade bombs in the post to key locations, concentrating on the urgency for his capture and how ultimately - he was found. It is an incredible look into the life of a man who, since his capture, was shrouded in so much mystery that you practically could not learn anything about him apart from his stubbornly academic manifesto. In this documentary we also get to see his brother, his sister-in-law, a woman who interviewed him after he sent for her by name. We get to see that from the very start of his life there is a sense of withdrawal because of his vast intellect. This intellect that becomes used and abused by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Criminal
"The Poems" by Propertius
The poet Propertius was an Latin Elegiac of the Augustan Period and his only surviving works are those of his four books of âElegiesâ. This totals around 92 surviving poems and his more romantic side of poetry is dominated by a character named âCynthiaâ. The romantic affair between Propertius and Cynthia takes wild turns and often turns either violent and turbulent or graphic and passionate. Common themes in the poems include: passion, romance, jealousy, violence, standards of love and courtship, lament, death and the afterlife, mythology, religion and ghosts. Propertiusâs unconventional use of the Latin language have often made his texts and allusions within texts difficult to translate and edit. The surviving manuscripts of his poetry have led translators to often alter the texts and therefore corrupting them before the editing stage. Propertiusâs boldness has often been said to exacerbate the problem of translation due to the way in which the syntax of the poetry is often incorrect. Be that as it may, themes, symbols and motifs are still clearly visible throughout the anthology. Propertius, being popular within his own lifetime but also a poet considered to be a scandal was also not really enjoyed by the other poets of his time and period. Horace had once stated a veiled attack on him and Callimachus as did Quintilian who states that the poet was not as popular as he made himself out to be.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Poets
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurâs Court" by Mark Twain
I first read this book on a road trip when I was in school. I must have been around fourteen or fifteen and I had a really old and battered copy of the book. In fact, it was so battered that the pages were falling out and eventually - it fell apart not so much as a year later. The book was an old, coverless copy and I would sit in the car reading it and laughing to myself at the very suggestion that a man could travel back in time and visit the courts of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. The book itself was a short and rather funny take on a classic tale and I definitely read it more than once. I have always enjoyed the poetic tragedy of Sir Lancelot and so, reading Twainâs comedic text was like reading someone from the Southern States of America mixing up Lancelot with Huckleberry Finn with a side of William Faulkner like satire of the changing world. Itâs like the perfect book to cheer you up and the most exciting novel that Twain wrote apart from Huckleberry Finn.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: âHamnetâ by Maggie OâFarrell
Maggie OâFarrellâs latest effort in literature is devised of two things: firstly there is a historical drama afoot and it is set upon the dainty Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1596, then there is an influence from the Bard of Avonâs most famous tragedy, âHamletâ. Iâm not sure I entirely got the gist of how the play really drove influence into the text apart from at the end, but it was well thought out and often had some strange features that I would like to partake in with you here. The textâs first chapter is a tell-tale sign of what is to come. First off, we have the relationship between Hamnet and his sister Judith, who is incredibly sick and the parents are not around to help out. Hamnet does everything he can to look for some help for his sick sister but finds nothing but hurt and pain. One thing I did enjoy about the book is the way silence is depicted. The way in which when nobody is speaking or doing anything, there is a certain amount of space there that is just hanging in the air. It is a brilliant feature of the text and gains it a mark for creativity.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: âWho Cares Winsâ by Lily Cole
Lily Cole is perhaps known more for her work on screen than in literature. A model, an actress and a filmmaker, Lily Cole has explored a wide range of her talents throughout the media industry and continues to expand to this day. Her book âWho Cares Winsâ is all about our own problems today but, different to other books of its kind it does not depict it as an apocalyptic nightmare to bring down the reader into a deep hole of eco-depression. Instead, Lily Coleâs book seeks to show us that there are interesting and vast ways to solve these problems if we care enough and if we concentrate on what really matters. Her skills at showing us massive problems with our own world and then telling us that we have the solution to them at our fingertips if we work together is something that I find incredibly interesting about this text. The optimism and the clarity in writing style really make you want to stick through the book and read what she has to say. Why? Well, it is the only real book youâll find about the environment that does not lead to the end of the world.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Motivation
Book Review: âToo Much and Never Enoughâ by Mary L. Trump
Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book, and Iâll tell you exactly why. Nearly everyone has tried to explain the dystopian apocalyptic nightmare that is the reign of Donald Trump as POTUS, even those who initially supported him during his 2016 election campaign. Since the mass movements that have developed during his presidency, the environmental crises, the Flint Water problems and many more, Donald Trump is more inactive than evil - even his Twitter account is more alive than his want to remove the dark stains that protrude through American History and are seemingly slipping through the cracks in his power once again. Again, everyone has written a book or thought about writing a book about why they cannot really understand how Donald Trump is still president through all of this, but I was more apprehensive about reading this particular one not because it was by his niece but because it was dealing with something that from research, I know to be a touchy subject: Donald Trumpâs mental health.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in The Swamp
Book Review: âShuggie Bainâ by Douglas Stuart
âShuggie Bainâ by Douglas Stuart is a book about the kind of life we rarely read about in literature. Itâs about the lives of those trying desperately to make ends meet in the bustling life of inner-city Glasgow. Set between the years of the early 1980s and the early 1990s, this book gives us a reason to read it. It doesnât invite us to experience the life that Shuggie is living, but instead allows us to immerse ourselves in it, feeling what he is feeling and going where he is going. We are given an apt look at his life, starting with the man we meet working at the supermarket and then, moving back over to his childhood and more importantly, his relationship with his mother. This book is a hand in teaching us that we donât know the lives of others upon first glance. They could be anyone, serving you in the supermarket, making your coffee at the cafe or even serving you at the checkout - we have no right to judge others without truly walking in their shoes and feeling what they are feeling. This book is a brilliantly polished example of that in practice.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
âThe Wise Womanâ by Philippa Gregory
I first read this book when I was fifteen yearsâ old and in school. I couldnât really tell anyone that I was a Philippa Gregory fan because of two things: the first thing is that I didnât really go to school with other children that liked to read - they were more into hair, nails etc. and the second reason is that I wasnât very popular anyway so I wouldnât have had anyone to tell anyway. âThe Wise Womanâ wasnât the first Philippa Gregory book I read but it was definitely one of my favourites because there was a big theme of vengeance and I love it when characters take revenge on people who were not very nice to them.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: âThrow Me to the Wolvesâ by Patrick McGuinness
This thriller novel may be original, yes, but there are many improvements if we want to move to the âgroundbreakingâ realm. There are a number of improvements this novel can make, but in my opinion I have to say that the book itself is mostly well written. It does the job of making a novel entertaining to read - but when we come to deeper thought things can get a bit sticky. For example: the first few chapters of the novel up to the first encounter with the young âDanny and Anderâ are incredible in terms of deep philosophy to do with estuaries and memories, everything from existential crises of great solitude to wanting to be right there, jumping to your death. When it comes to the first encounter of Danny and Ander however, I feel like the book actually falls a bit flat. As if the author is no longer using those mediums of lengthy description and internalised metaphors. These great wordings and speeches of introspection that were felt before seem to vanish. I understand that Ander is supposed to be younger and therefore, not really into thinking about such things, but seriously - it is like the writing style changes entirely. From the chapters on Gary and the investigation to the chapters on Danny and Ander - I think there is a stark difference in writing which makes the reader more and more distant from Danny and Ander and makes us less likely to care until the unthinkable actually happens.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
